Did you find yourself sweeter and kinder after Whole30 reintro?

[MeadowLily]

Nurturing the spirit sets the table for food addiction recovery.

Spiritual help is not the same as self-help.  Looking after your spiritual health is connection and letting go at the same time.   Spiritual health is turning loose of the body's hold over you....in the form of food addiction, body and weight obsessions.  All of it.

Spiritual health and well-being.  Turning loose of the body's addiction for rewards that get you nowhere good. 

The spiritual connection takes fear out and allows recovery to come in.

[MeadowLily]

So I says to myself.....HB ML.

And....away...we...gooooooo.

Today I make a bold prognostication of future nitwittery, blathering, foaming, milling around and shooting the breeze with the Universe.

I've never been fond of HB's and can really jack myself UP into a crying jag. It's super high expectations of having my name up there in the marquee lights and I did it my way.

I've lived a life that's full

I've traveled each and every highway

But more, much more than this

I did it my way

Regrets, I've had more than a few

I did what I had to do

And I saw it through without exemption

I didn't plan each charted course

Each careful step along the byway

And more, much more than this

I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew

When I bit off more than I could chew

But through it all, when there was doubt

I ate it UP and spit it out

I faced it all and I stood tall

And I did it my way

[MeadowLily]

You don't need to explain or justify your feelings to anyone.

Never let anybody take control of your nutritional decisions. Ever.

If someone else wants to control who you really are, run like hail. Major controllers control others because they cannot control or manage much in their own lives.  It's a defense and coping skill they use that will get you nowhere good.  Run to the Forest. Run.

Freedom.  You choose.  You decide.  Don't let anyone take that from you. 

 

 

[MeadowLily]

Use acronyms and be willing to make up words like embracement or swipe'o as you tool along.

Most of all, let your memories rise to the surface. Body. Mind. Spirit.

See with your instincts and intuition. Learn to read the smoke signals with clarity..reading faces, gestures, phrases, incomplete sentences and quirks. Mill around and shoot the breeze with the Universe in a judgment free zone.   

I'm more amazed than ever to realize how much time has passed. I still miss the WD30 el groupin.  I hope life treats them well and they've found their individual pathway to healing.

Don't waste any knee-slappers and hardy har har opportunities. They may not come your way again. Lightning strikes.  Maybe once. Maybe twice.

Momentum is a gift and don't ever take it for granted. Ride your wave and keep on riding.  I don't want to be beached, again. 

Let it flow. Limiting yourself has repercussions and consequences. Doing your best not to hurt others feelers means you'll have to stay in your own lane.  That's alright.

Don't miss out on the laughter. We live, love, laugh, grow, lose and grieve. No one is getting out of here without some mud on your boots and potholes along the road.

These dates on the calendar remind me of my ancestors and recent loved ones I've lost.  Heckatoot, it ain't easy. 

Today I will swill LaCroix and mix it with Booch. GT Kombucha. I'll probably throw my Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides in there, too.  Isn't that the way?

I don't give two hoots about BD cake. I've never liked cake and cookies...meh.  No, my Big Kahuna Trigger Food was HFCS.

I ordered my own BD presents. I make my own face serums and essential oils but I really like Chanel Chance eau vive. Cowboys run down the street and lick my tires when I have my fancy CCEV on.

Ooooo, what is that fragrance.  I don't tell them. You need to have some secrets for yourself. The other thing I can live without but don't want to is a good sunscreen for my face.  I like origins, plain and simple.

When you live at an ultra high elevation, snow burn along with sunburn results in some real consequences. I've watched way too many relatives have all kinds of skin surgeries to realize that it's important for me. I have a million pairs of sunglasses, too.

I don't wear much makeup because colors on my face look alot like warpaint. I use it for extra special occasions like scaring the daylights out of strangers. Hardy har har.

It's all fun really.  Don't let those two nitwits...body and mind run roughshod over you. They're still like a couple of children who enjoy nothing better than a thrill eating ride.

Much Love. Felicias.  Much Love.

I'm taking it back over to the DMV.  I yam who I yam.

 

 

[MeadowLily]

Crying with Country Music improves your mood.  Dancing with Country Music improves your brain.

Study results showed that tears involve pleasure from sadness. They are psychophysiologically calming.

Psychophysiological responses permit distinction between chills and tears. 

Tears have a cathartic effect. Crying to sad, woeful, touching, endearing Country Music will help you boost your spirits and move on from sad feelings.  

It's your party and you can cry if you want to. Country Music is good medicine. Cowboys, paleo americans have known that since Helloooo.

Dancing with music makes your mind sharper and your spirit more resilient.

Dancing is better at boosting your mood than workouts. Music triggers the brains reward center.

Movement brings on the endorphins.

Self-expression out on the dance floor lets you be you. It makes it easy to root for yourself.  

Dancing requires constant learning, decision making and creativity.

It helps build brain connections that help you focus, focus, focus. Cutting the rug is good for the mind. Dancing reduces the risk of dementia in older adults.

Country Music and dancing does a body good. It helps cardiac patients recover after surgeries which can bring on more sadness. Dancing and music makes them the happiest.

Music increases connection to others. The musical vibrations move through you and increase your physical and emotional landscape.

 

 

 

[MeadowLily]

Music is what feelings sound like. 

 

[MeadowLily]

Music helps your kids and adults, focus, focus, focus.

Music helps kids remember basic facts. Letters and numbers.

Music exercises the entire brain.

Music allows you to think in a way that you used to not think and it trains all of the other cognitive facilities that have nothing to do with music.

 

 

[MeadowLily]

Ear worms  get stuck in our heads, music is linked to evolutionary adaptation that helped our ancestors. Music is a language.

Music stimulates the entire brain.

Bone flutes have been dated to about 40,000 to 80,000 years ago, so people were at least playing music. Experts assume that people were probably singing before they went to the trouble of fashioning this instrument.

"The structures that respond to music in the brain evolved earlier than the structures that respond to language," Levitin said.

Levitin points out that many of our ancestors, before there was writing, used music to help them remember things, such as how to prepare foods or the way to get to a water source. These procedural tasks would have been easier to remember as songs. Today, we still use songs to teach children things in school, like the 50 states.

 

Musicians can't see inside their own brains, but they're aware of moments of tension and release in pieces, and that's what arrangers of music do.

Zatorre and colleagues did an experiment where they used whatever music participants said gave them pleasure to examine this dopamine release. They excluded music with words in order to focus on the music itself rather than lyrics -- the melodic structure, for example.

At the point in a piece of music when people experience peak pleasure, part of the brain called the ventral striatum releases dopamine. But here's something even more interesting: Dopamine is released from a different brain area (the dorsal striatum) about 10 to 15 seconds before the moment of peak pleasure.

Why would we have this reaction before the most pleasurable part of the piece of music? The brain likes to investigate its environment and figure out what's coming next, Zatorre explains.

"As you're anticipating a moment of pleasure, you're making predictions about what you're hearing and what you're about to hear," he said. "Part of the pleasure we derive from it is being able to make predictions."

So if you're getting such a strong dopamine rush from music -- it could even be comparable to methamphetamines, Zatorre said -- why not make drug addicts listen to music? It's not quite that simple.

Neuroscientists believe there's basically one pleasure mechanism, and music is one route into it. 

Rocking to the beat

Did you know that monkeys can't tap their feet to songs, or recognize beats?

It appears that humans are the only primates who move to the beat of music. Aniruddh Patel at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California, speculates that this is because our brains are organized in a different way than our close species relatives. Grooving to a beat may be related to the fact that no other primates can mimic complex sounds.

Curiously, some birds can mimic what they hear and move to beats. Patel's research with a cockatoo suggests the beat responses may have originated as a byproduct of vocal mimicry, but also play a role in social bonding, Patel said. Armies train by marching to a beat, for instance. Group dancing is a social activity. There also are studies showing that when people move together to a beat, they're more likely to cooperate with each other in nonmusical tasks than if they're not in synch.

Snowball the cockatoo can dance to song beats, whereas monkeys cannot, says Aniruddh Patel.

"Some people have theorized that that was the original function of this behavior in evolution: It was a way of bonding people emotionally together in groups, through shared movement and shared experience," Patel said.

Another exciting arena of research: Music with a beat seems to help people with motor disorders such as Parkinson's disease walk better than in the absence of music -- patients actually synchronize their movements to a beat, Patel said.

"That's a very powerful circuit in the brain," he said. "It can actually help people that have these serious neurological diseases."

There's also some evidence to suggest that music can help Alzheimer's patients remember things better, and that learning new skills such as musical instruments might even stave off dementia.

 

"That's a pretty amazing thing that, from sound, you can stimulate the entire brain," Limb said. "If you think about dementia as the opposite trend, of the brain atrophying, I think there's a lot of basis to it."

Music and emotions

You may associate particular songs with events in your life -- Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" might remind you of your graduation day, if you had a graduation in the 1990s or 2000s, for example.

Despite variation in any given person's life experience, studies have shown that music listeners largely agree with one another when it comes to the emotions presented in a song. This may be independent of lyrics; musical sounds themselves may carry emotional meaning, writes Cornell University psychologist Carol Krumhansl in Current Directions in Psychological Science.

Educational shows such as "Sesame Street" have been tapping into the power of music to help youngsters remember things for decades. Even babies have been shown to be sensitive to beatsand can recognize a piece of music that they've already heard.

Advertisers exploit music in many commercials to make you excited about products. As a result, you may associate songs with particular cars, for instance.

Here's one way you might not already be using music: Making a deliberate effort to use music to alter mood. Listen to something that makes you energetic at the beginning of the day, and listen to a soothing song after an argument, Levitin says.

Music as a language

Victor Wooten of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones isn't a scientist, but he has thought a lot about the process of learning to play music. For him, introducing a child to music shouldn't be different from the way a child begins speaking.

"I just approach music as a language, because it is," Wooten said. "It serves the same purpose. It's a form of expression. A way for me to express myself, convey feelings, and sometimes it actually works better than a written or verbal language."

Traditionally, a child learns to play music by being taught how an instrument works, and learning to play easy pieces that they practice over and over. They might also play music with other beginners. All the rules come first -- notes, chords, notation -- before they play.

But with language, young children never know that they're beginners, Wooten said. No one makes them feel bad when they say a word incorrectly, and they're not told to practice that word dozens of times. Why should it be different with music?

"If you think about trying to teach a toddler how to read, and the alphabet, and all that stuff, before they can speak, we'd realize how silly that really is," Wooten said. "Kids most of the time quit, because they didn't come there to learn that. They came to learn to play."

He remembers learning to play music in an immersive way, rather than in a formulaic sequence of lessons. When he was born, his four older brothers were already playing music and knew they needed a bass player to complete the band. "My brothers never said, 'This is what you're going to do,'" he said.

Wooten took this philosophy and created summer camps to get kids excited about music in a more natural way.

"It's rare that I ever meet a musician who doesn't agree that music is a language. But it's very rare to meet a musician that really treats it like one."

There you have it: Music that gets stuck in your head can be annoying, but it also serves a multitude of other purposes that benefit you. If you treat it like a language, as Wooten suggests, you might learn new skills and reap some of the brain health benefits that neurologists are exploring.

 

[MeadowLily]

Got music?  

That's a great decision because you are increasing your motor and memory functions.  

Change your gut and you can change your life. Change your brain and you can rid yourself of Stinkin' Thinkin'. 

 

[MeadowLily]

Not so long ago, we demonized eggs, butter, bacon and nuts. 

Shift happens. 

But you can't fix a broken brain with a broken brain.

[MeadowLily]

Relapse happens for food addiction recovery or any addiction recovery. 

The current rate for food addiction relapse is 70-90%.

Less than 5% of dieters can keep the weight off and it's only 2% higher for weight loss surgery patients....7%.

[MeadowLily]

The appetite control center is located in the brain. 

You  can't fix a broken appetite control center by demonizing food.  You can't fix it by removing all of the other internal organs or shuffling them around. 

Set your pride aside.  Find someone.  Sit down face-to-face with them.  They can help you find your pathway to healing.

You can find a better way to be happy than by demonizing food. 

Your body can return to a balanced state and go back to its original factory settings.

[MeadowLily]

I've eaten my share of dirt sandwiches.  Pinecones, dirt, grass clippings and old tennis shoes.  I've lost folkaronies to WLS. They traveled on.  

On the first part of the journey, I did it for them.  

Now, I'm doing it for me and the Felicias out there like me.  

[MeadowLily]

The carrot = the promise of a quick fix.

Dieting is the root of food addiction.

It starts with a diet and ends with a food addiction.

[MeadowLily]

Start thinking that nothing can be denied you.

You are not under the remote control of food or holidays, birthdays, circumstances and events.

No one can control you unless you give them your remote control.

[MeadowLily]

Dieting is the root of food addiction.  It's like a strong noxious weed.  It's going to take a backhoe service to pull that root out of your body, mind and spirit.  

 

When you were a child,  food did not control you. You only knew how survival was related to your Maw and Paw.

[MeadowLily]

As we all do, I've had some dreams.

Many years ago over the course of one week's time, I had these dreams. Never had any like it before or since. Only this one time. I could remember them all through the very next day and until this day in great detail.

My folkaronies were still alive in these dreams and they still are. Some, I haven't shared with anyone.

I couldn't sleep at all last night. These dreams came back to my remembrance. I want to tell you but it wouldn't be prudent.  

I will tell you that I'm getting down to some serious prayers today.  I will be milling around and shooting the breeze with the Universe.

Body. Mind. Spirit.  My spirit is the best part of me.

Those other two nitwits prefer the carnal side of life. Thrill eating and HFCS gummy bears. My spirit is the watchman on my wall. It has empathy and cares about the well being of others.

This is good friday. Momentum is a gift. I don't take it for granted.  Today is a gift. 

Much Love. Felicias. Much Love.

 

[MeadowLily]

You don't need to explain or justify your feelings to anyone.

Never let anybody take control of your nutritional decisions. Ever.

Take the bull by the horns.

Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children. 

ML. HPS. Direct A of SB

[MeadowLily]

As you pull the dross out of your head, it's good medicine to let go of your stuff.

Mt. Vesuvius is another kind of template. A woman was just inches from a clean getaway but she went back home for her stuff.  Her jewelry. Rings and bracelets everything she could put on her person but was overcome by the rock and ash. Pompeiians were found with the objects they valued the most. Coins.

They don't need their stuff now. You can't take it with you and there's no storage units to hoard it or hide it.  

There is a Mt. Vesuvius in your head filled with rocks and ash. Dieting. Obsession with food, counting calories, counting steps, counting macros and micros and mackerels.

Dieting is the root of food addiction. Cycles of overrestriction, binge eating and more dieting.

Pull the dross out of your head and don't go back home for it. Don't look back over your shoulder.

Get rid of unforgiveness. It is superheated ash, the pyroclastic surge that chases you and travels with the force of more than a hurricane. A constant stream of debris roaring down the mountains of your body towards the sea.

Unforgiveness is serious junk in your trunk. Surging and sweeping away everyone in its path.

The buried towns and treasures were beyond saving at Pompeii.They became empty.

Eventually, that wasteland became green. 

Today there are vineyards and olive trees in the fertile black soils.

The true essence of a grape is revealed when it's squeezed. Pull the dross out of your head and don't run back home for it.

If you're going through hail...keep on going.  

 

 

 

[MeadowLily]

Old things pass away and all things become new.

You can put away the old stinkin' thinkin' and become new. Just like you restore a house that's falling apart, you go down to the foundation and start over.

Clear the decks. 

You can't rest on yesterday's laurels, always looking back over your shoulder to the leeks and onions. 

Go take a shower and blow the stinkin' thinkin' off. 

Spruce yourself up and don't go out of the house looking like a slob. That's actually one of my favorite Whole 30 manifestos. 

#1 Blow the stink off

#2 Take it back outside

#3 Pull the dross out of your head

#4 It's a leaverite.  Leave it right there. Out on the trail

#5 Spruce yourself UP and do it for you.  

#6 Wear your best clothes and jewelry. Today

#7 Don't run back home for it for cryin' outloud 

#8 New beginnings. That's what the number 8 means. 

 

Seven means completion and eight means new beginnings. 

 

[MeadowLily]

7. Don’t be a slob.

"This may sound like the exact opposite of what I just said but loving your body does not mean you let yourself go, neglect your hygiene or wear unflattering clothes. Teenage girls seem to struggle with getting that balance right and I frequently feel the urge to mention to some girls that red lipstick and greasy unwashed hair is not an attractive combination. Being able to walk into a room full of strangers with your head held up high requires a high degree of self-respect. Sure, we all have bad days when you would rather slouch in the corner and become completely invisible, but these are the days when you gotta pull out the old “fake it till you make it”. Dreading the necessary socialising at a party? Put on your most comfortable piece of clothing (not your onesie), pull your shoulders back, lift your chin up, and walk in with a lion tamer’s confidence."

 

Reduce Your Exposure to Toxic Influences

"So be brave and give these strategies a go. Self-doubt can be paralysing and we all struggle with pressure put on us by the society’s impossible standards. Don’t just let yourself be swept away by the current of constant criticism telling you that you somehow you are not enough. Take an active stance and reduce your exposure to these toxic influences."

[MeadowLily]

Today. Put on your best clothes and perfume, fix your face UP, add your nicest jewelry.

Get a haircut and get a real job

Clean your act UP and don't be a slob

Get it together like your big brother Bob

I hit the big time with my rockNroll band

The future's brighter now than I'd ever planned

I'm 10x richer than my big brother Bob

Why don't you get haircut and get a real job

 

 

[MeadowLily]

When you think about it, we have created some of the best music in the world. RockNroll, they say she's not what she used to be. But she's ageless, timeless and still relevant as ever.

We have all kinds of music to jack ourselves UP into a happy place. Forge on and keep walking forward.

Don't let anyone or anything marsh your mellow today. Let's party like it's 1999.    

Look your best and do your best.

After all, tomorrow is another day. Remember, it's already Sunday in New Zealand.

Much Love. Felicias. Much Love.

Happy Easter

  

[MeadowLily]

 

 

If you're leaving town for the holiday, be sure to pick a friendly airline. Remember there are red eye and black eye flights still available. 

[MeadowLily]